The news | A sprawling KPMG Australia leaks scandal has forced the resignation of its chief executive, as Telstra and Optus were added to the list of major Australian companies whose confidential data was allegedly misused by the firm.

The details | The accounting giant’s Andrew Yates had spent weeks downplaying whistleblower claims that personnel misused confidential client data to win work, but in a dramatic escalation this morning, he and audit head Julian McPherson resigned.

KPMG Australia CEO Andrew Yates has taken responsibility for the firm’s failures and resigned. Photo: Dominic Lorrimer

The shock exits follow the discovery of a third major confidentiality breach, where highly sensitive Optus audit information was leaked to a KPMG team bidding for rival Telstra’s account. This revelation forced the firm to scrap its initial findings dismissing the whistleblower allegations, triggering a fourth internal investigation.

Why it matters | The widening fallout drags in the highly sensitive commercial data of corporate heavyweights Lendlease, Telstra, Optus, Dexus, Macquarie Group and Westpac.

Partners briefed on the executive resignations today describe a firm in panic mode, bracing for immediate client defections and regulatory blowback. Some fear that the saga, and repercussions from it, could be as damaging for the firm as those faced by PwC after the tax leaks scandal of 2023.

Also today | The corporate regulator is investigating Corporate Travel Management and its directors for possible breaches of their duties and says it has refused any further extension to its trading halt, as the embattled travel company fights to return to the ASX board by the end of June.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission is also investigating CTM’s former auditor, PwC.

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The definitive list of the top 200 richest people in Australia ranked according to their net worth.

Companies

• Dexus fails to stop forced sale of $4.5b Melbourne Airport stake
• BGH accelerates bid for campervan firm as grey nomads slow
• DroneShield hit with first strike, McLennan becomes chairman
• ‘I am awesome’: Inside the unravelling of gambling king Laurence Escalante

Markets

• ASX rallies 1.6pc to end May higher; Judo Bank, CBA jump
• A sharemarket correction more likely than a lasting rally, say fundies
• Australian retail investors finally break into Wall St’s exclusive deals
• Chanticleer | The bank bubble is popping. An AI winter may be coming next

Politics and policy

• Treasury’s CGT claims questioned by former OECD insider
• Abbott declares he’s the man to fix Australia’s ‘spiritual malaise’
• AI-fuelled surge in dismissal claims tips umpire into crisis
• The truth about what the budget means for small business

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An uncrewed Blue Origin rocket exploded on a Florida launchpad during a test, in a major setback for Jeff Bezos’ space venture as it seeks to narrow the gap with Elon Musk’s IPO-bound SpaceX.

With high school economics enrolments dropping and diversity gaps widening, one student convinced a major bank to back his pioneering plan to get more young people studying the subject.

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Three businesses, three engagements, three kids, and one very public divorce – influencer Tammy Hembrow has posted her way through it all. But over Lunch with the AFR, Australia’s biggest social media star says she is ready for a quieter life. Photo: Louise Kennerley

• Monday | King’s Birthday public holiday in New Zealand; Federal Open Market Committee member Jerome Powell speaks; Melbourne Institute inflation gauge; ANZ job advertisements data; ABS release: business indicators; RBA release: index of commodity prices.
• Tuesday | Financial Review AI Summit in Sydney; US ISM manufacturing PMI; ABS releases: business indicators, balance of payments and international investment position, building approvals, government finance statistics.
• Wednesday | Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey speaks; US JOLTS job openings; ABS release: GDP; Bank of Japan governor Kazuo Ueda speaks; US ADP non-farm employment change.
• Thursday | US ISM services PMI;US Beige Book; ABS releases: assets and liabilities of Australian securitisers, international trade in goods; RBA governor Michele Bullock appears before the Senate Economics Legislation Committee; European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde speaks; US unemployment claims.
• Friday | Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey speaks; RBA deputy governor Andrew Hauser speaks; US non-farm employment change and unemployment rate.

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